a job, we don’t want to think too much about the challenges we would face if we lost that job. It’s an attitude that many of us have towards major diseases as well, and it explains why so many people are shattered when they lose their jobs. It’s the “it’ll never happen to me” syndrome. Our first reaction is to replace the job we lost with another job, and if the prospects for that are bleak, we panic and look at our situation from the worst possible point of view.
At some point, however, we have to face the realities of the new workplace, and one of the fundamental changes that we have to make is to recognize the fact that there is work out there, just not necessarily jobs. We have to learn to cope with the new realities and adjust our approach to looking for work accordingly. That doesn’t mean giving up looking for a job, if that’s what is important to you. It means that you have to accept the fact that the route to finding that job will be different from what it has been in the past.
It’s not all bad
We should also try to be as objective as possible about the changes going on in the workplace. Some people have actually benefited from losing their jobs in that it has forced them to go through some soul-searching about what is important to them in their careers and they have come out of the process happier for the experience. They find out that the job they were so attached to was a bad fit for them and that there are other, more attractive options and ways to make a living that make sense for them.
Some people who get involved as contractors, initially with skepticism and trepidation, find that as they gain confidence and realize that they can earn a living this way, they wouldn’t go back to a traditional job if it was offered to them. People who have just lost their job may have difficulty believing that, but if they take the time to talk to people who have made the transition to contracting — and they should make a point of doing that — they will find that there is a world beyond that of the traditional job.
An example of the struggle people continue to have in accepting contract work was given in an October 24, 2006, article on Workopolis, Canada’s biggest job site. A worker in the auto sector who had lost his job and was having no success in finding another one after months of searching was seeking advice. He had just been offered a four-month contract by a company he respected in the auto sector, and his question was whether he should accept it or continue to seek “real” employment.
It’s possible that once we work our way through the transition that is currently going on in the workplace, we will pass on to our children a workplace that is healthier and more fulfilling for them.
Most Employment Opportunities Are Hidden
Where are the opportunities?
Looking for employment opportunities in yesterday’s workplace was a fairly straightforward procedure. You looked in the newspaper, called some friends and associates, maybe called a few employment agencies, and checked with your professional association or union. You still need to do these things, but they won’t lead you to the majority of the employment opportunities that exist in today’s workplace. You need to significantly expand your approach to include:
• Monitoring the websites of companies that you would like to work for and you feel are likely to be adding to their staff. Most company websites these days have a section where they list current employment opportunities. In the IT sector, this is the main way in which many companies advertise their jobs or contract opportunities. There’s even an attitude on the part of some of these companies that if you can’t find these opportunities on your own, they’re not interested in you. In other words, they want people who are “with it” and who know how to find employment in their industry.
• Most professional associations have a job-search service which they provide to their members. Companies who want to hire members deal directly with the association, which in turn lists the information on its website. Some industry associations do this as well, and you can sometimes access this information even if you’re not a member.
• While most of the major newspapers still include a career or employment section, you may find more opportunities listed online on an electronic employment service, which more and more companies are using instead of listing their requirements in print. Most of these services allow you to post your résumé on their site for free, and some of them will automatically notify you when an opportunity comes up that matches your job specifications. Some of these sites are also a very effective way to monitor what is going on in the workplace and to learn from the experience of others who are actively seeking employment.
• There are lots of online job sites available today; some that are generic and others that specialize in particular professions or geographical areas. One of the biggest is www.monster.com. Other sites are excellent resources for monitoring workplace activity, trends and news, www.rileyguide.com being one of the best of these.
We’ve already learned that the vast majority of employment opportunities are generated by small businesses. These businesses may not have a website at this point and if they do, it may not have a section on employment. In order to flush out these opportunities, you need to access every possible tool.
Finding employment opportunities
Most of the opportunities that exist today never hit the mainstream media or get posted on a website. The ways to find them include:
• Becoming a newshound and staying on top of trends in the workplace and in society. If you find that you are constantly being surprised by events when they are reported in the mainstream media, you’re not doing as good a job as you need to of monitoring what’s going on.
• Creating your own database of news sites and job sites and monitoring them regularly. Indiscriminate web surfing is not the answer. You need to approach this area in a diligent, intelligent, and creative way to ensure that you know more about what is going on in the workplace than the average person does. Many websites offer free newsletters filled with current news, and you can have them sent to you automatically on a regular basis. For example, if you want to keep abreast of events in the IT sector, www.wired.com is a good site to be connected to.
• Attending seminars, meetings, conventions, trade shows, and courses in your community. You need to be monitoring these to make sure you don’t miss out on an event that could be important to you in your search for work opportunities. They also help to keep you informed about what is going on.
• Networking effectively. There’s a whole section devoted to this later in the book, but let’s recognize at this point that you must be constantly networking in a creative and effective way. Word of mouth is a pretty low-tech way to advertise in today’s world, and many employment opportunities are still filled this way.
• Using your imagination and being creative. Maybe the employment opportunity that you’re looking for hasn’t hatched yet in the mind of the employer who could benefit from your set of skills. Look for unmet needs, and the better you’re connected to what is going on in the workplace and the world, the more likely you are to identify these. Maybe you need to create your own work opportunity by going directly to an employer with an idea whose time has come. Smart contractors and job seekers are doing this all the time.
• Getting involved with professional and business organizations. That means volunteering and being active on the executive level, not casually showing up for an occasional monthly meeting. Also monitoring the websites of professional and business organizations both within and outside of your community is a good way to keep up with what’s going on. Most chambers of commerce have a website today, and you may pick up some useful news items by monitoring them. Some of
